


the white fire of the stars

by stormss



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, First Kiss, Short & Sweet, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:16:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25771228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormss/pseuds/stormss
Summary: The first time it happens, there's blood on her face.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Comments: 18
Kudos: 102





	the white fire of the stars

**Author's Note:**

> i loved everything about this movie, and have so many ideas for fics, but this one just kind of spilled out of me. the title comes from "sleeping in the forest" by mary oliver!! 
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr!](https://reyesstrand.tumblr.com/)

The first time it happens, there's blood on her face. 

She doesn't care, though, that's the thing—Andromache has watched Quynh die several times in the years they've spent side-by-side, completely unseperable, but there's something about the severity of this death, this time, blade to her throat in one long slash. Quynh wakes as she always does, blood still dripping down and drying under the delicate pendant that rests against her sternum, and she enacts revenge as she deserves, bringing her own sword down on her unsuspecting assailant. They'd been pulled magnetically to this small village destructed by war, and when the thick-headed soldiers are dealt with, it's the children they run to; the children they assess for pain and pull close to murmur promises that they'll be okay, even if they can't be sure that it's the truth. 

As long as they have say in anything, it will be the truth. Quynh will make sure of it, as will Andromache, and they share a knowing look as they file the children into the safe-house they've procured for them. The whole time, watching Quynh kneel down to pinch cheeks and make silly faces at the little ones, Andromache is aching to make sure her companion is okay, is whole, even though there's no reason to think otherwise. 

_There's Lykon,_ her brain so rudely reminds her, sending a pang through her chest, but she shoves that thought down. They make it back to their camp, both of them still feeling safer when it's just the two of them, even if that means trekking up mountains or settling deep in the forest. She doesn't mind, though; both she and Quynh find sleeping under the stars to be a tie to their first lives, before they died, before each other. And they would not trade one single thing about their fate because it has brought them together, but Andromache still yearns, still longs for something she cannot name. 

"You're thinking an awful lot tonight," Quynh chides her, nudging her ribs with a sharp elbow, and Andromache lightly shoves her back before poking at the coals of the fire. 

"May I?" Andromache asks, after a moment has passed, her voice dripping with seriousness instead of letting a usual witty quip pass her lips. Quynh cocks an eyebrow at her but nods either way, holding her breath as she watches Andromache's every move. With gentle hands, Andromache brings a cloth dampened with water from the stream up to Quynh's lovely face, and starts blotting away dirt and blood, relief blossoming in her chest when she sees that, of course, there are no more wounds under the smears of grime. 

She moves lower, to her blood-stained throat, and wipes at it until it's gone, bottom lip caught between her teeth. Andromache glances up, and finds that Quynh's still watching her, intently, warmly, light from the embers before them reflecting in brown irises. 

"I was worried, today, I—" Andromache shakes her head, her throat welling up before she can continue. Quynh places a hand over Andromache's, the one still resting along the side of Quynh's neck. 

"I will always come back," Quynh whispers, this conversation one that's become common recently. Andromache swallows hard and imagines Lykon, his boisterous laugh, his blood seeping between her fingers, Quynh and herself feeling nothing but useless in their attempts to help him. She imagines sisters and her mother and she can't remember any particular identifying features, but she knows that Quynh's face is one that she will fight to never forget. Andromache reaches up with her free hand and drags her thumb over dried droplets of blood flecked over Quynh's cheek. Quynh's voice is even quieter as she adds: "I'll always come back to _you._ "

There's a beat, a moment frozen in time. 

And then:

"Can I kiss you?

Quynh laughs then, beautiful like flutes and lyres she once associated with home, only now, she knows that this woman, her Quynh—it does not matter where they go because this, right here, is home. 

"If you do not, I will," Quynh says, deep and sincere, but she's smiling as she proves her point and closes the space between them. 

Andromache feels like—like the stars have been cracked open to shower them with an unimaginable light, an unimaginable warmth, and unimaginable protection. She's kissed many people, she's found pride in taking many lovers in her centuries on this planet, and yet here she is, knocked off her feet. Quynh kisses her like she needs it, like Andromache is providing her the very air she needs to keep living. And that's the thing, with them, living for each other even when death sometimes comes as an easier option. 

Quynh's long, slender fingers curve against Andromache's jaw, pulling her closer. They're still dotted with blood and grime but they could not care less because this has been simmering for years, since before she's known Quynh, probably; she was meant for this, carved into existence to feel this woman's mouth against hers, her heartbeat spiking under her lips when she presses a kiss to her pulse point, everything boiling down to this moment that kind of feels like a revelation. 

"I love you," Andromache says, though it doesn't feel like those three words are nearly enough. 

"And I love you," Quynh speaks the words into the hollow of Andromache's throat, before lifting her head enough to tilt their foreheads together. Her smile is blinding, is the purest amethyst. Quynh slips into her mother tongue, escaping her breathlessly, "Oh, my light." 

"Just you and me," Andromache whispers, unable to stop herself from kissing Quynh again, and again, not willing to stop now that she's gotten that first taste. They pull away but still remain close enough to share the same air. The fire flickers, wood creaking, and the forest around them is alive with the quiet serenity of life moving forward despite it all. Quynh presses her thumb to the corner of Andromache's mouth, kisses the tip of her nose, sets her heart on alight. In return, Andromache grasps her pendant between her fingers, tugs her even closer.

"Until the end," Quynh finishes their promise, one they first recited years ago, and they're grinning into it when they kiss again. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! comments/kudos are greatly appreciated!!


End file.
